Better deal? 8800GT 512MB vs 3850 512MB

[wiz83]

Which is a better deal?

- 8800GT 512MB @ $230
- 3850 512MB @ $176

I want the best performance/dollar. I know 8800GT is better in terms of performance, but is the price difference really worth paying for?

I just wanted a DirectX 10 card, and the cheaper ones seemed useless as far as benchmark goes on DirectX 10.

 

[xx12amanxx]

8800Gt hands down kick's the 3850 in the nut's ....hard!

 

[wiz83]

Damn, I was about to check out at NewEgg, and the deal for $230 shipped just expired ($10 instant rebate and free shipping) midnight PST 1/31. I need to pay $246+ now to have it shipped. I'm gonna hang around for a while and see what other offers are there.

 

[jerseygamer]

Both cards are perfect performance per $$$$. One thing though. The 8800GT is not DX10.1 compatable. When DX10.1 releases and it will be pretty soon you will see the ATI start blowing the doors off of the GT. Nvidia is claiming they will update all of the cards for dx10.1 but they will not be true 10.1 and will not see the insane performance boost over the current dx10 as its not true 10.1. For your money the ATI is a better buy in the end but it just depends how picky you are. That and Xfire is much more stable and reaping better benifits atm.

 

[IndigoMoss]

Where do you get these stats from Jerseygamer? Any links?

 

[T8RR8R]

if you want the most bang for the buck on 3DMark, the 3850 is the way to go.....well that's what Futuremark says. In real world situations though, I think the 8800GT would be the way to go. However there are 3870's floating around for about 210.

 

[pauldh]

The 8800GT is not DX10.1 compatable. When DX10.1 releases and it will be pretty soon you will see the ATI start blowing the doors off of the GT.

I reserve judgement til later this year if/when we see the 3800's performance under Vista SP1. All sounds good, but we don't know how the 3800's will do and when we will see games that are DX10.1.

Xbit recently wrote about DX10.1 for anyone interested:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd3870-hd3850.html

 

[Ycon]

8800 GT, but waiting for some new offers is really worth it.

 

[rgeist554]

Just FYI, the 3870, not the 3850 is the 8800GT's competitor card. That being said, the 8800GT is at a fantastic price atm.

... When DX10.1 releases and it will be pretty soon you will see the ATI start blowing the doors off of the GT. Nvidia is claiming they will update all of the cards for dx10.1 but they will not be true 10.1 and will not see the insane performance boost over the current dx10 as its not true 10.1. For your money the ATI is a better buy in the end but it just depends how picky you are. That and Xfire is much more stable and reaping better benifits atm.

That's going to be hard to backup w/o some solid benchies to provide some evidence towards their claims. I'm not against, heck, I hope they do blow DX10 cards out of the water... but someone is probably going to tear you apart for saying that.

Just wait for the fanboi flame incoming in: 5... 4... 3...

 

[teldar]

Ok, people, he's looking for the best performance per dollar, not the best performance. I would say that if he found a 3850 512 (most of which have a pretty decent OC going) it is going to be better per dollar than the 8800 GT 512, particularly for $70 less. If it were only $55 less, I think it would have been a little difficult to decide. Havn't seen many 3850 512 reviews out there though, so it's a little hard to say anyway.....That's pretty significant. I would think that at that differential, the 3850 512 would be a better buy.

 

[Dahak]

Even though it's more expensive,I'd get the 8800GT.It outperforms the 3850 by quite a bit.It would most certianly make a difference with the newer games,including CRYSIS.Goodluck.

Dahak

M2N32-SLI DELUXE WE
X2 5600+ STOCK (2.8GHZ)
2X1GIG DDR2 800 IN DC MODE
TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
EVGA 8800GT SUPERCLOCKED
SMILIDON RAIDMAX GAMING CASE
ACER 22IN WS LCD 1680X1050
250GIG HD/320GIG HD
G5 GAMING MOUSE
LOGITECH Z-5500 5.1 SURROUND SYSTEM
500WATS CONTINUOUS,1000 PEAK
WIN XP MCE SP2
3DMARK05 15,686
3DMARK06 10,588

 

[homerdog]

I have seen 512MB 8800GTs going for $219.99 on Newegg for the last few days. If you can't find one for around that price then I encourage you to look at an HD3870. This GIGABYTE one has a Zalman cooler and is only $210.
GIGABYTE GV-RX387512H Radeon HD 3870 512MB

 

[TurdBurglar]

No you havent dude. There has been no 8800GT 512mb for less than $230 on Newegg EVER! Not sure where you get that info from.
Id just wait till they have another deal, with the free shipping too. I picked up a 256mb version for $208 the day it came out at the egg.
To answer your question, the 3850 is the best deal going.

Maybe not on Newegg, but take a look at this...

http://www.ncixus.com/search/?categoryid=0&q=8800gt

 

[rgeist554]

No you havent dude. There has been no 8800GT 512mb for less than $230 on Newegg EVER! Not sure where you get that info from.
Id just wait till they have another deal, with the free shipping too. I picked up a 256mb version for $208 the day it came out at the egg.

I'm guessing he mean the 256MB or maybe any open box items that weren't clearly labeled.

 

[aevm]

Which is a better deal?

- 8800GT 512MB @ $230
- 3850 512MB @ $176

I want the best performance/dollar. I know 8800GT is better in terms of performance, but is the price difference really worth paying for?

I just wanted a DirectX 10 card, and the cheaper ones seemed useless as far as benchmark goes on DirectX 10.

Both have excellent performance/dollar ratios. I think you should forget performance/dollar between these two because it's too close to matter, and focus on other features. For example if you want a quieter card or have an X38 motherboard get the HD 3850. If you want a faster card or have a 650i/680i motherboard get the 8800GT (or even better the 8800 GTS G92).

 

[TurdBurglar]

Maybe not on Newegg, but take a look at this...

http://www.ncixus.com/search/?cate [...] 0&q=8800gt

Well i certainly wouldnt buy that Galaxy! The one for $228 has a $13 s+h charge. So wow, he's gonna save a whole $4, I'd rather get it at the Egg. Reliability and fast shipping and customer service are worth $4.
Rgeist 554, I agree.

I'm just saying they are coming down in price, Bytch. I guess you also don't recognize rebates? You're probably just feeling queasy that the 512mb GT is coming down to the price you paid for your underperforming 256mb GT only 30 days later.

 

[homerdog]

No you havent dude. There has been no 8800GT 512mb for less than $230 on Newegg EVER! Not sure where you get that info from.

I could have sworn it was $219.99, but I know it was at the most $229.99. Still a good deal if you ask me, but the price seems to have gone back up now.

Edit: And no I was not referring to a 256MB 8800GT; in fact Newegg doesn't even have any of those in stock right now.

 

[rgeist554]

I could have sworn it was $219.99, but I know it was at the most $229.99. Still a good deal if you ask me, but the price seems to have gone back up now.

Yeah, especially compared to the $289-315 they were going for at release.

Edit: And no I was not referring to a 256MB 8800GT; in fact Newegg doesn't even have any of those in stock right now.

That was the only GT that had been in the sub $220 range on newegg that I had seen.

 

[pauldh]

No you havent dude. There has been no 8800GT 512mb for less than $230 on Newegg EVER!

There have been three 512MB 8800GT for $229.99 shipped free, all for the record under $230. lol

 

[Guest]

Sick burn!

 

[homerdog]

No you havent dude. There has been no 8800GT 512mb for less than $230 on Newegg EVER!

There have been three 512MB 8800GT for $229.99 shipped free, all for the record under $230. lol

Thank you! I knew I wasn't crazy

 

[wildfire788]

Both have excellent performance/dollar ratios. I think you should forget performance/dollar between these two because it's too close to matter, and focus on other features. For example if you want a quieter card or have an X38 motherboard get the HD 3850. If you want a faster card or have a 650i/680i motherboard get the 8800GT (or even better the 8800 GTS G92).

I agree.

 

[enewmen]

Both cards are perfect performance per $$$$. One thing though. The 8800GT is not DX10.1 compatable. When DX10.1 releases and it will be pretty soon you will see the ATI start blowing the doors off of the GT. Nvidia is claiming they will update all of the cards for dx10.1 but they will not be true 10.1 and will not see the insane performance boost over the current dx10 as its not true 10.1. For your money the ATI is a better buy in the end but it just depends how picky you are. That and Xfire is much more stable and reaping better benifits atm.

Are you talking about Tessellation? I think even a 2600XT will blow the doors of the 9800GTX-X2 in a Tessellation benchmark. But I think it will still be at least a year until games start using this.
For now I'm happy with the 8800GT.

 

[aevm]

What is Tessellation? Why aren't games using it? Is it part of the DirectX standard?

 

[enewmen]

What is Tessellation? Why aren't games using it? Is it part of the DirectX standard?

Tessellation is part of DX10.1. Currently DX10.1 doesn't exist. Currently even DX10 games don't use all of DX10 features. So I think it will be a long time before Tessellation is used in games.
What is Tessellation? "The concept of tessellation involves the breaking down of polygon meshes into higher poly meshes." Think of it as turning an object with 200-500 polygons into 500,000 polygons internally - this will increase polygon rendering 1000x (in theroy). I think this also involves extruding a bitmap into a fully high-detial rendered topography 3D lanscape with mountains, canyons, etc.